A three-judge panel on Thursday ruled that Tennessee doctors who provide emergency abortions to protect the life of the mother cannot have their medical licenses revoked or face other disciplinary actions while a lawsuit challenging the state’s sweeping abortion ban continues.

The ruling also outlined specific pregnancy-related conditions that would now qualify as “medical necessity exceptions” under the ban, which currently does not include exceptions for fetal anomalies or for victims of rape or incest.

“This lack of clarity is evidenced by the confusion and lack of consensus within the Tennessee medical community on the circumstances requiring necessary health- and life-saving abortion care,” the ruling stated. “The evidence presented underscores how serious, difficult, and complex these issues are and raises significant questions as to whether the medical necessity exception is sufficiently narrow to serve a compelling state interest.”

  • @InverseParallax
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    162 hours ago

    Having grown up in Tennessee, they absolutely will be punished.

    They will be shunned by society, they will be attacked privately for even being rumored to have assisted in an abortion.

    Pastors, politicians, will spread stories that a doctor participated in an abortion, and that will lead to ‘vigilante justice’.

    On the plus side, there will be some minority of doctors who give appropriate medical care anyway, no matter the repercussions.

    • @NABDad
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      92 hours ago

      They will also be punished because of they ever intervene to protect the life of the mother, they’ll find themselves in court trying to prove that the mother’s life was in danger.